Historical Fiction - Worthy or Worthless?

Discussion in 'Books, Films, TV, Radio' started by Gage, Mar 6, 2011.

Page 4 of 4
  1. Bernhart

    Bernhart Member

    the Bartholomew Bandy series by Donald Jack, very funny account of a gentleman from ww1 to ww 2
     
    Bernhart, Oct 28, 2015
    #61
  2. JohnS

    JohnS Senior Member

    Like anything, if it is done well, then it is worthy.
     
    JohnS, Nov 16, 2015
    #62
  3. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Last month read New York by Edward Rutherfurd now I'm half way through his book Sarum.
    Bit of escapism but has got me Googling quite a few facts now & again.
    Learning a bit of history whilst reading a ripping yarn.
     
    Owen, Mar 2, 2017
    #63
  4. Gage

    Gage The Battle of Barking Creek

    Still haven't read SS-GB. Nice to read this thread again.
     
    Gage, Mar 4, 2017
    #64
  5. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    I still don't really know if Sajer's book's a novel... :unsure:
     
    von Poop, Mar 4, 2017
    #65
  6. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

    Perhaps a hybrid category. History with alternative facts.
     
    canuck, Mar 5, 2017
    #66
  7. Gage

    Gage The Battle of Barking Creek

    Such a great book. Another I need to go back and read again.
     
    Gage, Mar 5, 2017
    #67
  8. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    I read it many years ago during my Deighton phase, was rather good I thought.
     
    wtid45, Mar 5, 2017
    #68
  9. Gage

    Gage The Battle of Barking Creek

    I read Goodbye Mickey Mouse and Bomber.
     
    Gage, Mar 5, 2017
    #69
  10. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Member

    Historical fiction read when I was little got me interested in the real thing. I read widely as a youth and progressed to more significant fare later. Without fiction I'm not sure how my education would have proceeded.
     
    LRusso216, Mar 6, 2017
    #70
    Gage likes this.
  11. Gage

    Gage The Battle of Barking Creek

    Saw this today. Could have a few up in arms...
    [​IMG]

    Good reviews thou.
     
    Gage, Jun 20, 2017
    #71
  12. papiermache

    papiermache Well-Known Member

    One of the first "dramas" on the then-new BBC2 in 1967 was an adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's "Sword of Honour" trilogy: "Men At Arms" ( 1952), "Officers and Gentlemen" (1955), "Unconditional Surrender" (1961).

    This was in black-and white with an excellent cast: Edward Woodward, James Villiers, Ronald Fraser, Freddie Jones, Vivian Pickles. Very bare sets, which made it better. It hasn't been equalled.Then I read the books. Waugh's "Put Out More Flags", about the phoney war is rather different, but well worth a read. Waugh was an unpleasant man, but was a brilliant writer. John Mortimer ( who wrote the Rumpole stories, amongst many other plays and novels, "adapted" Evelyn Waugh's " Brideshead Revisited" for the famous ITV series, but the dialogue is lifted straight out of Waugh's book with virtually no changes. Mortimer couldn't improve it.

    George Macdonald Fraser touches on the war in his hilarious McAuslan stories ( there was a TV version.) See , for example, "The General Danced at Dawn", about life in a post-war Scottish regiment in the Middle East. Absolutely guaranteed to cheer you up. Very approachable, fascinating, funny, a superb craftsman. His autobiographical "Quartered Safe Out Here", about his time in Burma in 1944/45, is a masterpiece.
     
    papiermache, Jun 20, 2017
    #72
    Gage likes this.
Page 4 of 4

Share This Page